Just Needed to Say Sorry
by BonesBird
Summary: Jon calls Erika to apologise about what happened with the three Orion women. (SassCaptains, Episode tag for "Bound")


**So, this oneshot came about when I was queuing screencaps over on Tumblr. Now, I hate this episode. I hate this episode with a burning passion. But it needed a SassCaptains fix. So I hope you guys like.**

**Shin xx**

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><p>After the last few days Jon Archer had been glad to just sit there and listen to Erika tell him all about her recent disastrous mission to Cetaph IV which had apparently ended her senior staff being involved in a brawl, and most of them being injured, thankfully none critically. She had got on the comm sporting a cast on her arm, and a look that had told him she had a story to share. Given he hadn't especially looked forward to telling her what he knew he needed to, he'd let her ramble, and now she'd finished with the myriad of bruises and breaks her crew had. "You're not in pain though?" He asked, concerned for her as he always was.<p>

"No, not now." She shook her head, her laughter trailing off and looking at him seriously. She obviously knew that there was another reason he would have contacted her, and she was right. "You didn't call me to ask about Veronica's broken leg or my broken arm."

"Well, I was glad to hear that story and know that you two can cause havoc wherever you are." He tried to deflect by using a small bit of the truth. It truly was a joy to know that Erika and Veronica could cause havoc no matter where they were. It was a particular talent that the two of them had, and he had always enjoyed seeing it in action.

Erika, however wasn't at all fooled. "Jonathan. What's going on?"

"You need to remember that I would never, ever do this normally, and maybe not to scream at me. I am in my ready room." He knew that if she went off on him his entire crew would hear it, but he was sure he could head her off before she started screaming at him. Not that she ever had before. Then again, he'd never kissed someone else before. Not while they were together at least.

She rolled her eyes, and he wondered if that was the easiest way for her to accept that what he was going to tell her was going to make her angry. "Go on."

"So, we took these slaves aboard." That was already not the best start to the story. Not given that Erika knew about the last slave he'd taken aboard, in the Expanse. That had gone in a worryingly similar way to this, now he thought about it. But he had been trying to do the best for these people. "And I really thought we were saving them from a life of slavery and prostitution, you should be proud of me for that."

"Why do I feel like I'm not going to like where this ends up?" Erika asked, but it was obvious that it was a completely rhetorical question,

"They came aboard, but apparently they had some sort of pheromone that meant they could control some people, and would give headaches to others." Basically split down the lines of those who could be attracted to them, and those who couldn't. It hadn't been a great situation, especially since they'd made things uncomfortable for most people, and tried to take the ship. "They tried to take over the ship."

Erika, obviously, had followed the story completely, but was waiting for the other foot to drop. "OK. While I appreciate this story, Jonathan, but where is the point?"

He needed to suck it up and just admit to it. "I kissed one of them."

The worrying part of Erika's reaction was the second of silence in which she was clearly debating whether or not she'd heard him properly. Then she sat forward, and rather than yelling at him, she hissed in an extremely menacing voice. "You did what?!"

"In my defence, there were mind altering substances involved." It was a weak defence, but it was the true reason. While there were things in his history he wasn't so proud of, he had been committed to Erika for years, and he was not stupid enough to risk their relationship for anything. Not when they were in as precarious a situation as they were right now.

It was obvious that Erika was trying to take that into account, but he had an idea how she felt right now and there was no reason she would be able to forget the fact that her partner had just told her he'd kissed someone else. "I don't know if that makes me less angry."

"Look, I know this sucks for you, and if it was you who had kissed someone else I'd probably be as angry as you are right now." It was best he admit to that. Unlike Erika, he probably would have been shouting too, and demanding to know details. All that mattered right now, he hoped, was that he was never going to do it again, was sorry that it had happened at all and that she was the important thing. "But I love you, and I'm sorry."

After a few seconds she shook her head and smiled slightly. "You're too good at heading me off when I'm angry, pookie." She eventually said and chuckled a little. He hadn't expected it to be so easy to talk her down, but then again given that she was normally even handed and thoughtful, maybe it wasn't all that surprising. The nickname, however, was very surprising.

"You haven't called me that in a long time." He smirked and shook his head. She used to call him that in front of their teammates when he'd pissed her off. It lead to a lot of teasing from their colleagues, now it generally meant she forgave him, but she was going to need some time to work through it.

"I felt like it was time to bring it back, you asshole." That definitely made him feel forgiven, for the most part at least. He couldn't stop himself from laughing a little, and once again marvelling that this woman had, for some reason, forgiven him for all the shit he'd done over the years, of which this was just one of the most recent examples.

"God, I love you." He grinned, studying her face and, thankfully, not seeing a single sign that she was as angry as she had been a few minutes earlier. "I just need to keep telling you that."

Erika smirked at him, and he hoped that she wasn't about to cut him down with a 'so long, sucker' type message. Thankfully, it seemed she'd made the decision to keep him around. "Keep working on me, I'll consider saying it back."

"You don't need to, I already know how you feel." He'd always known, and he'd also always known how uncomfortable Erika was with giving verbal confirmation of how she felt too. The verbalising wasn't important to their relationship. His guilt, right now, was going to lead to him apologising a lot more though. "I'm so sorry, Rike. I'll see you soon?"

"In a few weeks, probably." She smiled again and trailed off, it was obvious that she was struggling with the fact they now hadn't seen each other in a month. She looked like she was a little down, at least until she started smiling again and caught his eye. "Jon?"

"Yeah?" He asked, a little worried what she'd thought about now.

Her smile grew into more of a grin, and that was when he knew they were going to get through. "I really do, you know?" It was obvious what she was talking about, but it was something that didn't really need to be shared for them to be happy.

"I know. You show me all the time." He smiled and shook his head with another laugh.

"I should probably go, laughing at Veronica trying to stand up out of the command chair is my current favourite thing." Erika's grin turned mischievous, and Jon wasn't surprised. There was something hilarious about the mental image of his long-time friend struggling to stand up out of the chair. Only Columbia could get into a brawl their first solo mission out.

"You're mean." He chuckled and shook his head back at him.

Erika had said the same thing before, and for some reason it didn't surprise him to see that her grin grew when he said that. "I know."

"Talk tomorrow?" It was maybe a little needy, but it was Christmas and he wanted to see her open the present he'd given her when their ships had been together a month earlier.

"Absolutely. No more kissing strange aliens." Erika teased then shook her head. "We'll talk."

He couldn't help but laugh, it was definitely time they go, however much he hated it. "Deal. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, love." She replied, and he smiled as she blew a kiss at him then closed off the channel. He'd been determined to tell her before she read the report, because he knew that if the situation had been reversed he would have flown off the handle. As always, Erika had taken it all in her stride. She really was more than he deserved, and so he made a mental note to remember that and thank her for putting up with him the next time he did something stupid.


End file.
